October: More Travel, Smaller Bookings, Bigger Beauty Bills
October sits just ahead of Singapore’s year-end peak, and two patterns are already showing: travel spending climbs while each booking gets smaller, and beauty bills grow bigger before the festive season. Further out, the year-end peak itself looks set to arrive in two waves.
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October 2026 · Singapore
Historical findings and conditional outlook
How to read the index: For each category, we compare its average daily spend in a given month against its average daily spend across the full calendar year. We do this for 2023, 2024 and 2025 separately, then average the three results. 1.00 is a typical day for that category; 1.18x means October runs 18% above it. Each category is compared only against itself, so the index shows which months are busy for that category, not which categories are bigger, and not how one year compares with another.
October Travel & Leisure
Median Hotel Booking Lead Time
October Beauty (2025)
In-store Beauty Bill (2025)
| Metric | Value | Context |
|---|---|---|
| October Travel & Leisure | 1.18x | October index, averaged across 2023 to 2025. Up from 1.11x in September |
| Median Hotel Booking Lead Time | 69 days | Before check-in, based on previous ShopBack findings. |
| October Beauty (2025) | 1.05x | Above a typical day for the first time in three years. |
| In-store Beauty Bill (2025) | +20% | September-to-October change in the average bill, to the largest of 2025. |
Travel Demand Rises, But Baskets Get Smaller
Averaged across 2023 to 2025, online Travel & Leisure ran at 1.18x its own typical day in October, up from 1.11x in September, continuing a sustained climb towards the year-end travel season.
Beneath the rise in Travel & Leisure spending sits an interesting pattern. Our data shows that while total Travel & Leisure spending increases from September through November, average spending per booking moves in the opposite direction.
Specifically, in 2024, average travel order values fell 5.4% from September to October, and another 8.4% into November. A similar pattern emerged in 2025, where average travel order values declined 3.6% from September to October, and a further 5% into November.
This could suggest that the year-end ramp-up in Travel & Leisure is driven by a greater number of bookings rather than larger-ticket purchases, with the mix shifting towards smaller ones as the holidays approach. ShopBack data previously found that Singapore users are among APAC’s earliest travel planners, with the median hotel booking made 69 days before check-in. If the big holiday is often booked well ahead, the months closer to year-end may lean more towards smaller purchases, from short-haul getaways to attractions.
What does this mean?
Singapore travellers appear to lock in the big holiday early, then top up with smaller bookings, such as staycations, attractions and short trips, as year-end gets closer.
What this means for brands
With the median hotel booking made 69 days before check-in, year-end travel offers need to be live by mid-October to catch those bookings. Closer to the holidays, smaller baskets suggest add-ons and attractions may work better than big-ticket packages.
Beauty Shoppers Are Spending Bigger, Earlier
In beauty, the festive season appears to be arriving earlier, at least in what shoppers spend per visit.
In 2023 and 2024, beauty followed a familiar calendar: October was a quiet month (0.99x and 0.94x a typical day), and spending built to a clear December peak. 2025 broke that pattern. October ran above a typical day for the first time in three years (1.05x), and the peak came a month early, in November (1.31x).
Bill sizes moved with it. In 2024, the average in-store beauty bill fell 5.2% from September to October. In 2025, it rose 20% to the largest of the year. If 2026 follows 2025, this October may again be when beauty shoppers make their bigger purchases.
Beauty has also taken a growing share of in-store spending over the past two years, indicating demand that holds up year-round.
What does this mean?
Beauty shoppers may be starting their festive buying earlier, and if last year is a guide, this October could be when the bigger purchases land.
Beauty Spending Index
Each year's month against that category's own typical day in that year. These are individual historical years, not the three-year average.
| Period | Index |
|---|---|
| October 2023 | 0.99x |
| October 2024 | 0.94x |
| October 2025 | 1.05x |
| November 2025 peak | 1.31x |
Average In-store Beauty Bill Changes
September-to-October percentage change per bill, not a spending index.
| Year | Change |
|---|---|
| 2024 | -5.2% |
| 2025 | +20% |
What this means for brands
If this October follows last year’s, gift sets and bundles may be worth launching now, ahead of the year-end sales.
Coming Up: Year-End Shopping in Two Waves
The year-end peak itself comes in two waves: online spending peaks in November, a month before in-store spending peaks in December. For more details, stay tuned for our next editions!
If any of these patterns would help a story you’re working on, reach out to us and we can pull the cut you need or set up a spokesperson interview.
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Methodology & Press Resources
Drawn from ShopBack's own transaction data across Singapore: in-store payments made with ShopBack Pay and online purchases made through ShopBack. This October 2026 edition presents historical findings from 2023 to 2025 and a conditional outlook, not measured October 2026 results.
You’re welcome to use the data and insights featured in your stories with attribution to ShopBack. Beyond this edition, we can cut the data for your story: what Singapore buys at each hour of the day, how online and in-store spending differ, how far ahead travellers book across the region, when people book appointments, and how festive seasons such as Chinese New Year shift spending. We’re also happy to provide additional commentary, context or spokesperson interviews to support your coverage.